Clarifier



J, J. NAUGLE Feb. 2l, 1950 CLARIFIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 SCU/1 PLS/05191. Ao

FIG.3.

Filed July 3, 19.45

TO VIBRATIN MEANS INVENTOR.

JOHN J. NAUGL E J. J. NAUGLE Feb. 2, 195

CLARIFIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 3, 1945 T0 VIBRATING vMEANS INVENTOR.

JOHN J. NAUGLE,

@Y #Miu/v ATTY.

J. J. NAUGLE Feb. 2l, 1950 `CLARIIPIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 3, 1945 T0 VIBRATING M EANS INVENTOR .Jouw u. NAUGLES J. J. NAUGLE Feb. 2l, 1950 CLARIFIER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 3, 1945 lill. n

FIGS

INVENTOR.

1 JOHN J. NAUGLE,

Patented Feb. 2i, 195o UNITED CLABIFIER John J. Naugle, New York, N. Y.

Application July 3, 1945, Serial No. 603,055

(Cl. 2l0-51) c claims.

My present invention relates to clarifiers, and more particularly, to a clarifier for separating suspended materials and scums from liquids, especially, but not exclusively, from sugar liquors.

Existing devices of the general character indicated have certain disadvantages. For example, their construction is usually such that the internal parts thereof are not readily accessible for repairs or adjustments. Such internal parts usually include moving elements, which are costly, not only initially, but to maintain as well. Furthermore, these prior devices are bulky, requiring considerable floor space; they donot lend themselves to knock-down construction, thereby adding to the cost of shipping the same; and their installation and operation require the services of relatively skilled labor.

It is, therefore, the main object of my present invention to provide a clarifier which, including a minimum of moving parts, and these, in the main, being externally located, can not readily become damaged.

It is another object of my present invention to provide a clarifier which is so constructed that the internal parts thereof are inexpensive, and are readily accessible for repairs should they become damaged.

It is still another object of my present invention to provide a clarifier in which the internal parts thereof are so'associated with the remainder of the device that they can be readily separated therefrom for repairs or adjustments with the expenditure of little effort.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide a clarier which requires a minimum of floor space, which can be shipped ilat, `and which can be speedily assembled and operated by relatively unskilled labor.

These, and other objects and advantages of my present invention, which will be better understood as the detailed description thereof progresses, are attained in the following manner:

The clarifier of my present invention consists, generally, of a tank, which is open at the top and which has a vsloping bottom wall communicating with a sludge-removal conduit, and an assembly, including a plurality of settling compart l ments arranged in tiers, suspended `within said tank. Except in one oi' the embodiments to be hereinafter described, all of the compartments, except the lowest one, have bottom walls which are parallel to the aforementioned sloping bottomA wall of the tank, and each, except said lowest one, communicates, at its lowest level, with said tank, said lowest one being completely open at the bottom. In addition, each compartment, except said lowest cne', communicates, at its highest level, with the outside of the tank for the removal of clarified liquor. The highest level in the lowermost compartment communi- 2 cates, in parallel, with each of the remaining compartments at approximately the center levels thereof.

The inner assembly is adapted to be vibrated, from outside the tank, at such a frequency and amplitude, and in such direction, as to urge any suspended material settling in the aforementioned compartments, out of the same along the sloping bottom walls thereof, and into the sludgeremoval conduit of the tank. Any scums in the original liquor are removed by way of the parallel communications between the tiered compartments, as will hereinafter be more fully explained.

In the accompanying specification therev are described, and in the annexed drawings shown, several illustrative embodiments of the clarifier of my present invention. It is, however, to be clearly understood that my present invention is not limited to said embodiments, inasmuch as changes therein may be made without the exercise of invention and within the true spirit and scope of the claims hereto appended.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of a clarifier made in accordance with the principles of my present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view ofthe same;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to Figure 3, but showing modified inner assemblies.

Referring now more in detail to the aforesaid illustrative embodiments of my present invention, and with particular reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the numeral Ill generally designates a rectangular, sheet-metal tank supported, at the four corners thereof, by vertical angle irons II, and reinforced, at appropriate levels, by transversely disposed angle irons I2. The tank walls are, preferably, separate, being se.. cured to each other to form the tank by any suitable means. The tank is open at the top, and its bottom wall I3, disposed at an angle, preferably, of 30 degrees to the horizontal, cooperates with converging walls I4, disposed at lan angle, preferably, of 45 degrees to the horizontal, and a substantially triangular extension of the front wall of the tank, to form a hopper I5 for guiding any sludge to a conduit I6.

Resting upon resilient, for example, rubber, mountings I'I, which are fixed upon the uppermost reinforcing angle irons I2 of the side walls of the tank, is a pair of rods I8 from which are suspended two pairs of straps I9 for supporting, in any preferred manner, the inner assembly 20 of the device.

Said inner assembly consists of apair of side walls 2l connected by-a rear wall 22, and a piurality of forwardlyv sloping walls 23 having, at the front edges thereof, downwardly directed lips partments 26, and a primary settling compartment 21, the latter being completely open at its bottom. Each secondary compartment communicates with the tank I0, at its lowest level, through a slot 28 in its front wall, and the entire assembly 26, the sloping walls 23 of which are disposed parallel to the bottom wall I3 of said tank, is so suspended in said tank as to just clear the bottom thereof.

Liquid to be clarified is admitted to the tank I through an inlet pipe 29, passing through the bottom wall I3 and extending into the primary settling compartment 21, said pipe terminating in a perforated distributing header 30 which is transversely disposed in the compartment at about the center level thereof, near its front wall 25. A similar header 3| is located at about the highest level in the compartment 21 near the rear wall thereof, said header communicating with a horizontal pipe 32 which passes through the sloping bottom wall 23 of the lowest secondary compartment 26 to join a vertical pipe 33 which passes through the sloping walls 23 of the remaining secondary compartments 26. At the junction of the pipes 32 and 33, which is located at the center level of the lowest secondary compartment 26, near the front wall 25 thereof, and at similar locations in the remaining secondary compartments 26, I provide additional headers 34.

Located at the highest level in each secondary compartment 26 is a clarified-liquor header 35, each being connected with a flexible outlet pipe 36 for conveying the claried liquid outside the tank to a collecting trough 31, each outlet pipe being provided with an appropriate valve 38.

The tank is additionally provided with an overflow pipe 39.

Threadedly engaged in a metal block 46 secured to the rear wall 22 of the inner assembly 20, and disposed at the same angle to the horiv.zontal as the forwardly sloping walls of the assembly compartments, is a rod 4I adapted to be reciprocated, by any preferred vibrating means (not shown) located externally of the tank, along the line of its slope. The rod is passed through the rear wall of the tank I0 by mounting the same in a pair of metal plates 42 which are bolted to each other,` as at 43, on the opposite sides of a fiexible, water-tight diaphragm 44. The latter is secured over an opening 45 in the tank wall by means of a metal frame 46 bolted, as at 41, to said tank wall.

'This completes the description of the first of the aforesaid illustrative embodiments of the clarifier of my present invention, and the mode of operation thereof may be briefly summarized as follows:

Liquid to be clarified, containing suspended materials and scums, is admitted to the tank I0 through the inlet pipe 29 and associated distributing header 30. As the level of the liquid being admitted rises in the primary settling compartment 21, a preliminary settling takes place in said primary settling compartment, with the scums iioating on the top of the liquid. Inasmuch as the outlet header 3 I -of the primary compartment 21 is located at the highest level thereof, said scums, together with partially claried liquid, enters said outlet header and are conveyed through the horizontal pipe 32 to the junction of CII 4 said pipe 32 andthe vertical pipe 33. As the level of the liquid in the tank continues to rise, the lowest of the secondary settling compartments becomes filled with a mixture of the partially clarified liquid from theheader 34, located at the center level in said lowest secondary compartment, and less partially clarified liquid from the tank itself, the scums originally collected by the outlet header 3| of the primary compartment 21 continuing to rise with the vertical pipe 33. Additional settling takes place in said lowest secondary compartment 26, and the liquid entering the outlet header 35, located in the rear of said lowest secondary compartment at the highest level thereof, is substantially completely clarified. As the level of the liquid being admitted to the tank I0 continues to rise, similar clarification takes place, in turn, in each secondary settling compartment 26. When said level reaches that of the overflow pipe 39, the rate of the flow of the incoming liquid is adjusted to the rate at which clarified liquid is being withdrawn from the device, so that the tank remains at full capacity at all times during the subsequent operations.

The vibrating means referred to in earlier portions of this specification, but not shown in the drawings, is now put into operation, whereby the entire irmer assembly 2|) is vibrated along a line parallel to the slope of the bottom wall I3' of the tank, the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations being adjusted so that the sludge settling on the bottom walls of the secondary compartments 26 is gently urged forwardly, out of said compartments, through the slots 28, and into the narrow channel presented between the front walls of the assembly 20 and the tank I6, eventually dropping into the hopper I5 to be removed from the tank through the conduit I6. While the frequency and amplitude of said vibrations must be suicient to bring about the removal of the sludge, they must not be so violent as to continually disturb the liquid being clarified and thereby prevent eiiicient settling.

In the modificationv shown in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, the tank I0 is similar to the tank previously described in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The same is true ofthe inner assembly 20, except that said assembly is suspended differently in the tank I0, whereby it can be subjected to a different vibratory motion. Instead ofthe two pairs of strapsI9 for suspending the assembly from the upper, side edges of the tank, I provide a single strap 48 affixed to each side wall 2|, each of said straps having at its upper end a stub shaft 49 rotatably mounted in a socket 50 secured to the tank I 0. Instead of the rod 4| engaging said assembly substantially at the center thereof, said rod, as shown by the broken line, is secured to said assembly adjacent the lower end thereof, so that when the' vibrating means is put into operation, the assembly 20 is vibrated in an arcuate path about the shafts 49. The result is greater vibration of the lower compartments, and progressively less vibration as one proceeds upward through the asward through the.assembly. Such an arrangement is useful if the finer material settling in the upper compartments tends to cake and not flow freely. In order to accomplish this, I provide the side walls 2|, adjacent their lower edges, with brackets 5l which are lined with resilient pads 52 adapted to bear against stub shafts 53 carried in supports 54 which rise from-the bottom wall I3 of the tank I0. A plurality of straps 55 extend upwardly from each of theside walls 2l, the central strap on each side having afllxed thereto the inner ends of tension springs 56 which extend in opposite directions and have their outer ends anchored in brackets 51 carried by the tank I 0. The upper extremity of each of said central straps is secured, as shown by the broken line, to the rod connecting between the inner assembly and the vibrating means.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, the inner assembly 20 is, as in the case of the first above-described embodiment, suspended from the upper, side edges of the tank I0 by means of straps I9, but the arrangement is such that the assembly itself is not vibrated.

Each of the bottom walls 23 has secured thereto resilient blocks 58 on which rest false bottoms 59 to each of which there is attached a rod 60. The latter pass through the rear walls of the inner assembly and the tank, and are connected to individual vibrating means (not shown), whereby each false Ibottom 59 may, if desired, be vibrated at a different frequency and/or amplitude.

It will be understood that the embodiments shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 include inlet, intercompartment, and outlet piping similar to that specifically shown and described in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

This completes the descriptions of all of the embodiments of the elariers of my present invention.

It will be noted from all of the foregoing that I have provided a clarifier which includes a minimum of moving parts, and therefore, the device cannot readily become damaged.

It will further be noted that the moving parts are, in the main, externally located, and are, therefore, readily accessible in the event that they do become damaged.

In addition, the internal parts of the device are so constructed and contained within the tank that should it be necessary to repair the same, or make any adjustments thereon, the entire internal structure is rapidly separated from the remainder of the device with very little effort.

Finally, it is to be noted that my clarifier lends itself to knock-down construction, which enables that same'to be shipped fiat, and its construction is such that it can be speedily assembled and put into operation by relatively unskilled labor.

I claim:

1. A clarifier comprising: a tank having a liquid inlet and a sludge outlet; an assembly, including spaced side walls connected by iront, rear and bottom walls defining at least one settling compartment, removably suspended within said tank; means 'for withdrawing clarified liquid from the upper level of each such compartment and conveying the same to the outside of said tank; the bottom wall of each such compartmentv being sloped to guide any sludge settling therein out of the same in the direction of the sludge outlet of said tank; means, located externally of said tank, for vibrating said assembly; means, disposed in a. plane parallel to that of each such sloping bottomvwall, for coupling said assembly and said vibrating means whereby the vibrations imparted from the latter to the former are in a plane parallel to that of each such sloping bottom wall; and means in one of the walls of said-tank for supporting said coupling means and admitting the same to the interior of said tank.

2. A clarifier comprising: a tank having a liquid inlet and a sludge outlet; an assembly, including spaced side walls connected by front, rear and bottom Walls defining at least one primary settling compartment and at; least one secondary settling compartment, removably suspended within said tank; means for withdrawing partially clarified liquid from the Vupper level of each such primary compartment and conveying the same to each such secondary compartment; means for withdrawing clarified liquid from the upper level of each such secondary compartment and conveying the same to the outside of said tank; the bottom wall of each such compartment being sloped to guide any sludge settling therein out ofthe same in the direction of the sludge outlet of said tank; means, located externally of said tank. for vibrating said assembly; means, disposed in a plane parallel to that of each such sloping bottom wall, for coupling said assembly and said vibrating means whereby the vibrations imparted from the latter to the former are in a plane parallel to that of each such sloping bottom wall; and means in one of the walls of said tank for supporting said coupling means and admitting the same to the interior of said tank.

3. A clarifier according to claim 1, wherein said means for supporting and admitting said coupling means to the interior of said tank includes: a fiexible, water-tight diaphragm secured to one of the walls of said tank, over an opening therein.

4. A clarifier comprising: a tank having a liquid inlet and a sludge outlet; an assembly, including spaced side walls connected by front, rear and bottom Walls defining a primary settling compartment and a plurality of secondary settling 7 compartments, removably suspended within said tank; a liquid-distributing pipe connecting the upper level of said primary compartment with the center level of each of said secondary compartments; means for withdrawing clarified liquid from the upper level of each such secondary compartment and conveying the same to the outside of said tank; the bottom wall of each such compartment being sloped to guide any sludge settling therein outside of the same in the direction of the sludge outlet of said tank; means, located externally of said tank, for vibrating said assembly; means, disposed in a plane parallelto that of each such sloping bottom wall, for coupling said assembly and said vibrating means whereby the vibrations imparted from the latter to the former are in a plane parallel to that of each such sloping bottom wall; and means in one of the walls of said tank for supporting said coupling means and admitting the same to the interior of said tank.

5. A clarifier according to claim 4, wherein said means for supporting and admitting said coupling means to the interior of said tank includes: a flexible, water-tight diaphragm secured to one of the walls of said tank, over an opening therein.

6. A clarifier according to claim 2, wherein said means for supporting and admitting said coupling means to the interior of said tank includes: a flexible, water-tight diaphragm secured to one of the walls o1' said tank, over an opening Number therein. 1.988.031 JOHN J. NAUGLE. 1,983,968 V 1,986,897 REFERENCES CITED 5 2,070,201 The following references are of record in the 2432350 me of this patent: gggg UNITED STATES PATENTS 2:35:3:602 Number Name Date l0 1,231,409 Moore June 26, 1917 1,662,180 Ball Mar. 13, 1928 Number 1,825,550 Schulte Sept. 29, 1931 268,051 Mausi: et al June 5. 1934 231,271

Name Date Donohue July 31, 1934 Clark Dec. 11, 1934 Shaw Jan. 8. 1935 Gemy Feb. 9, 1937 Muller Oct. 11, 1938 Devenish Aug. 6, 1940- Geary Apr. 20, 1943 Trotter July 11, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Mar. 29, 1927 Germany Feb. 20, 1911 

